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1 


UN,VERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


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THE   CHILD'S   BOOK 


OF 


BIBLE    STORIES 


WITH   PRACTICAL 


ILLUSTRATIONS  'AN©  REMARKS. 


No.  1 


ON     THE     FALL 


BY    REV.    T.    II.     GALLAUDET, 

Late  Principal  of  the  American  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb. 


PUBLISHED  BY   THE 


AMERICAN   TRACT   SOCIETY, 

150   NASSAU-STREET,   NEW-YORK. 


1830. 


D.  Fanshaw,  Printer. 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  on  the  fifteenth,  day  of  Go- 
ober, in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-four,  by 
T.  H.  Gallaudet,  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the 
Southern  District  of  New-York. 


CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Story  I.— The  Permission, ....  13 

II.— The  Prohibition, .    .  21 

HI.— The  Penalty,        29 

IV.— The  Tempter, '37 

V.— The  Temptation, 45 

VI.— The  Fall, 53 

VII.— The  Remorse, 61 

VIII.— The  Excuses, 39 

IX.— The  Curse, 79 

X.— The  Sentence, 85 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/childsbooko.fbiblOOgall 


ADDRESS 


The  Child  who  may  read  this  Book. 

A  little  boy,  who  lived  in  a  large  city,  once  wandered 
far  from  home  and  could  not  find  his  way  back.  He  had 
disobeyed  his  father  in  doing  so,  who  told  him  not  to  go 
from  the  door  of  the  house.  At  first,  he  was  so  much 
pleased  with  the  new  things  which  he  saw,  that  he  hardly 
thought  how  far  he  was  going,  or  what  he  should  tell  his 
father  on  his  return.  But,  by  and  by,  he  grew  tired,  and 
sat  down  on  a  step  of  a  house  to  rest.  He  looked  round 
him  and  saw  that  he  was  in  a  strange  place.  He  had 
never  been  there  before.  All  the  houses  were  new  to  him, 
and  the  street  looked  very  different  from  the  one  in  which 
he  lived.  It  was  a  long  street;  and,  as  he  cast  his  eye 
down  it,  and  remembered  too  that  he  had  gone  through 
many  other  streets,  and  turned  many  corners,  before  he 
got  into  it,  he  began  to  think  that  his  father's  house  must 
be  at  a  great  distance,  and  that  he  could  never  find  his 
way  back  to  it. 


6  ADDRESS. 

He  thought,  too,  how  wicked  he  was  in  disobeying  his 
father,  and  that  it  was  this  which  had  brought  him.  into 
such  trouble.  This  made  him  feel  the  more  unhappy. 
He  would  have  given  all  the  pretty  playthings  he  owned, 
if  he  could  but  be  at  home  again,  just  as  he  was,  a  cheerful 
and  happy  child  on  the  step  before  his  father's  house. 

The  evening  was  coming  on,  and  the  poor  boy,  as  it 
grew  dark,  began  to  be  greatly  alarmed.  He  had  been 
trying,  for  some  time,  by  looking  attentively  at  every  one 
who  passed  him,  to  see  if  he  could  not  discover  an  ac- 
quaintance, or,  at  least,  somebody  whom  he  knew  by  name, 
and  to  whom  he  might  make  himself  known. 

But  none  but  strangers  passed  by,  and  no  one  took  any 
particular  notice  of  him.  Why  should  they?  They  did 
not  know  that  he  was  lost ;  for  he  had  as  yet  sat  on  the 
step,  sad  and  silent,  without  saying  a  word. 

It  grew  darker,  and  he  could  scarcely  see  the  faces  of 
those  who  were  going  by  him.  He  thought -that  he  might 
perhaps  have  to  spend  the  night  in  the  street,  and  the  tears 
began  to  roll  down  his  cheeks.  He  sobbed,  and  at  last 
cried  aloud. 

Many  persons  passing  by,  must  have  heard  him  cry, 
but  they  did  not  stop  to  inquire  what  was  the  matter. 
Some  were  thinking  so  much  about  themselves  and  their 


ADDRESS. 


own  business,  that  they  had  no  time  to  stop  and  be  kind  to 
a  poor  little  crying  boy.  Others  thought  people  should 
take  care  of  their  own  children,  and  if  they  would  not  do 
it  the  children  must  suffer ; — while  some  supposed  that  he 
belonged  to  the  house  on  the  step  of  which  he  was  sitting, 
or  at  least  in  the  neigbourhood,  and  that  his  friends  would 
soon  come  and  take  care  of  him. 

Poor  boy !  he  might  have  sat  there  crying  a  long  time, 
if  a  kind  man  who  was  passing  by,  and  who  loved  little 
children,  had  not  stopped  and  inquired  the  cause  of  his 
distress. 

The  boy  told  him  all  about  it,  and  did  not  hide  his  dis- 
obedience to  his  father.  He  really  felt  sorry  for  having 
been  guilty  of  this  disobedience.  He  said  that  he  did,  and 
the  man  pitied  him  so  much,  and  was  so  much  pleased  to 
see  him  sorry  for  his  fault,  that  he  told  the  boy,  after  ask- 
ing his  name  and  that  of  his  father,  that  he  would  go  with 
him  and  lead  him  safely  home. 

What  a  kind  friend,  and  how  rejoiced  the  little  wan- 
derer was,  as  he .  entered  once  more  the  door  of  his 
father's  house,  to  get  back  again  to  the  arms  of  his  dear 
parents. 

How  would  you  have  felt,  my  dear  child,  had  you  been 
in  his  situation? — Would  you  have  felt  very  thankful  to 


8  ADDRESS. 

'the  kind  person  who  took  so  much  pains  to  lead  you  home  ? 
— Would  you  have  been  truly  sorry  for  your  disobedience, 
and  confessed  it  to  your  father,  and  asked  his  forgiveness, 
and  resolved  never  to  do  so  again  ? — Would  you  have 
been  very  happy  indeed  to  find  yourself  safe  at  home,  once 
more  under  the  care  of  a  kind  father  and  mother  ? 

Have  you  ever  thought  that  you  have  wandered  a  great 
way  from  your  father, — from  your  Heavenly  Father, — 
from  God  who  made  you,  and  who  has  done  so  much  for 
you,  and  who  has  been  kinder  to  you  than  any  earthly 
parent  can  be? 

Every  time  that  you  have  done  wrong,  you  have  dis- 
obeyed God,  and  have  been  like  the  lost  little  boy,  wan- 
dering from  him.  Perhaps  you  have  never  felt  your  dan- 
ger in  thus  wandering  from  God.  Wicked  persons,  in 
wandering  from  God,  are  going  farther  and  farther  from 
Heaven,  that  beautiful  and  happy  place  where  those  who 
get  there  are  happier  a  great  deal  than  the  happiest  little 
boys  and  girls  are  in  their  father's  house  here  on  earth. 

Are  you  wandering  from  that  delightful  home,  above 
.he  blue  sky,  where  all  are  perfectly  good  and  happy,  and 
where  your  Heavenly  Father  wishes  you  to  go  after  you 
die? — Are  you  wandering  farther  and  farther  from  this 
Heavenly  Father,  who  is  inviting  you  to  return  to  him, 


ADDRESS.  9 

and  has  sent  his  Son  to  show  you  the  way  back,  if  you 
will  but  let  him  lead  you  ? 

Yes,  Jesus  Christ  is  like  the  kind  man  who  led  the  lost 
little  boy  back  to  his  home.  He  will  take  you  kindly  by 
the  hand,  and  lead  you  back  to  God.  Will  you  feel  that 
you  need  such  a  kind  friend  ?  Will  you  put  yourself  un- 
der his  care  ? — Will  you  be  led  by  him  to  your  Heavenly 
Father?  Will  you  thus  go  to  God,  confessing  your  sins, 
beseeching  him  to  forgive  you  for  Christ's  sake,  and  pray- 
ing for  the  Holy  Spirit  to  aid  you  in  doing  all  this  ? 

It  is  to  show  you  how  important  it  is  for  you  to  feel  so, 
and  to  do  so,  that  God  has  given  you  the  Bible.  You  like 
to  read  other  books,  especially  if  they  contain  entertaining 
stories. — You  were  interested,  were  you  not,  in  the  story 
which  I  just  told  you  about  the  little  boy.  Were  you  also 
interested  while  I  tried  to  explain  the  use  of  that  story,  and 
to  have  it  lead  you  to  think  of  God,  and  what  you  must  do 
to  have  him  for  your  everlasting  friend? — Will  you  be 
interested  in  this  book,  if  all  the  stories  which  are  in  it  are 
taken  from  the  Bible?  And  Avhile  I  tell  you  these  true 
stories  from  the  Bible,  and  explain  them  in  such  a  way  as 
to  do  you  good,  and  lead  you  to  love  God,  and  trust  in 
Christ,  and  be  prepared  to  go  to  your  Heavenly  Father's 
house  in  Heaven,  when  you  die,— will  you  listen  to  me?— 


10  ADDRESS. 

I  hope  you  will,  and  that  God  will  help  me  so  to  write, 
and  you  so  to  read,  that  this  little  book  may  lead  you  to 
love  the  Bible  more  than  you  have  ever  done  before  ? 

Remember,  that  the  more  you  read  and  understand  the 
Bible,  the  wiser  you  will  be,  and  the  more  you  love  and 
obey  it,  the  better  and  happier  you  will  be.  Pray  daily  to 
God  for  his  Holy  Spirit,  that  you  may  thus  read,  under- 
stand, love,  and  obey  that  best  of  books,  which  He  has 
given  you  to  show  you  the  way  to  Heaven. 


STOR.1T  I. 


THE    PERMISSION. 


When  your  father  or  mother  tells  you  that  you 
may  go  and  play,  they  permit  you  to  do  it.  Some- 
times you  ask  them  if  you  may  look  at  a  beautiful 
book  full  of  pictures,  and  they  say,  "  yes,"  and  let 
you  take  it.  They  permit  you  to  look  at  it.  Or,  what 
means  the  same  thing,  they  give  you  permission  to 
look  at  it.  If  your  father  has  a  garden,  and  he  tells 
you  that  you  may  go  into  it  and  pick  some  fruit  to 
eat,  he  gives  you  permission  to  do  so. 

What  other  things  do  your  parents  or  teachers 
ever  give  you  permission  to  do  ?  See  if  you  can  think 
of  some  of  them. 

Now  I  am  ready  to  tell  you  the  story  about  the 
permission  which  God  gave  Adam  and  Eve,  to  eat  of 
the  fruit  which  grew  in  the  beautiful  garden  in  which 
he  placed  them. 


14  THE    PERMISSION. 

Adam  and  Eve,  you  know,  were  the  first  man  and 
woman,  and  the  beautiful  garden  in  which  they  lived, 
was  called  Eden. 

God  made  that  garden  for  them  to  live  in.  It  was 
a  very  delightful  place.  The  air  was  pure  and  sweet. 
The  weather  was  neither  too  warm  nor  too  cold.  It 
was  like  one  of  our  most  pleasant  days  in  the  begin- 
ning of  summer. 

The  garden  was  full  of  all  kinds  of  beautiful  trees, 
many  of  which  bore  the  most  delicious  fruit ;  and  a 
clear  stream  ran  among  them  to  water  the  garden, 
and  to  make  the  trees  and  plants  grow. 

It  was  there  that  Adam  and  Eve  lived  ; — both  good 
and  happy ;  loving  God  and  each  other,  and  taking 
care  of  the  garden. 

God  gave  them  permission  to  eat  of  the  fruit  that 
grew  on  all  the  trees,  with  the  exception  of  one  that 
stood  in  the  middle  of  the  garden.  Of  the  fruit  of 
that  tree  he  commanded  them  not  to  eat.  He  told 
them  that  if  they  did  eat  of  it,  they  should  certainly 
die.  I  will  tell  you  something  more  about  this  tree 
»n  the  next  story,    What  I  wish  you  to  think  of  now 


THE    PERMISSION.  15 

is,  how  very  kind  God  was,  in  making  that  beautiful 
garden  for  Adam  and  Eve  to  live  in,  and  in  permit- 
ting them  to  eat  of  so  many  sorts  of  the  most  deli- 
cious fruit  which  grew  on  the  trees  of  which  the  gar- 
den was  full. 

If  some  person  who  owned  a  very  large  and  de- 
lightful garden,  should  tell  you,  that  you  might  go 
into  it  at  any  time,  and  pick  the  fruit  in  it  just  when 
you  chose,  and  as  much  as  you  chose,  only  taking 
care  not  to  meddle  with  a  certain  tree,  which  he 
wished  not  to  be  touched, — you  would  think  he  was 
very  kind  indeed  in  giving  you  this  permission. 

You  might  wonder,  perhaps,  why  he  would  not  let 
you  take  some  fruit  from  that  tree,  and  he  might  not 
choose  to  tell  you  the  reason  for  his  doing  so.  Still, 
if  he  was  a  good  man,  you  would  know  that  he  had 
some  sufficient  reason  for  doing  it ;  and  surely  you 
would  have  no  right  to  complain,  for  the  fruit  all  be- 
longed to  him,  and  it  was  a  great  kindness  in  him  to 
permit  you  to  take  any  of  it. 

Suppose  this  person  were  your  own  father,  and 
that  he  should  let  you  go  into  his  garden  and  eat  01 


16  THE    PERMISSION. 

the  different  kinds  of  fruit,  to  show  you  what  a  kind 
father  he  was,  and  how  much  you  ought  to  love  him 
for  all  his  kindness  towards  you.  And  suppose  he 
should  forbid  you  to  take  the  fruit  from  one  tree,  to 
make  you  feel  that  he  had  a  right  to  command  you 
to  do  as  he  pleased,  and  to  see  whether  you  would 
feel  so,  and  be  obedient  to  him. 

Ought  you  not  to  be  very  thankful  to  him  for  his 
kindness,  and  to  love  him  for  it  and  for  all  his  good- 
ness to  you  ?  Ought  you  not  to  feel  that,  while  all 
the  trees  and  the  fruit  in  the  garden  belonged  to  him5 
he  had  a  right,  if  he  thought  best,  to  forbid  you  to  eat 
of  the  fruit  of  one  of  the  trees  ? 

Ought  not  Adam  and  Eve  to  have  felt  so  towards 
God,  their  Heavenly  Father,  who  created  them,  and 
did  so  much  to  make  them  good  and  happy  r 

11  Yes,'1  you  say,  "  they  certainly  ought." 

Well,  take  care  then  that  you  feel  so  towards  your 
parents,  and  towards  those  who  have  the  care  of  you. 
Be  thankful  when  you  are  permitted  to  have,  or  to 
do,  any  thing  which  will  make  you  good  and  happy. 
Do  not  complain  when  you  are  forbidden  to  take,  or 


THE     PERMISSION,-  17 

to  do,  any  thing.  Be  contented.  Be  submissive.  Be 
obedient.  If  you  have  not  always  been  so,  how  much 
reason  there  is  that  you  should  be  sorry  for  all  your 
misconduct,  and  that  you  should  pray  to  God  to  help 
you  to  feel  right  and  to  do  right,  in  future. 
2 


STORY  IX. 

THE    PROHIBITION. 

u  The  Prohibition"  you  say,— "  that  is  a  word 
which  I  do  not  understand." 

But  you  know  very  well  the  tiling  which  it  means. 
Sometimes  your  father  ma«^i^ve  told  you  not  to  go 
near  his  table  and  irre,d die  with  the  books  and  pa- 
pers upon  it.  He  gave  yo^  »|>o#mission  to  play  in  the 
further  corner  of  the  room,,  .but  he  prohibited  you 
from  coming  near  the  table.  When  he  rose  from  the 
table  and  went  out  of  the  room,  he  told  you  to  re- 
member his  prohibition. 

A  mother  told  her  daughter  that  she  might  go  and 
walk  in  the  garden,  and  look  at  the  pretty  flowers, 
and  gather  some  of  them  from  all  the  beds  excepting 
one,  to  put  together  into  a  beautiful  nosegay  The 
little  girl  was  an  obedient  child,  and  did  not  forget 
the  prohibition.     She  did  not  touch  a  single  flower 


22  TUB    PROHIBITION, 

in  the  bed  of  tulips,  for  that  was  the  one  from  which 
her  mother  had  forbidden  her  taking  the  flowers. 

Can  you  think  of  some  things  that  you  have  beeu 
prohibited  from  taking  or  doing  ?    Try. 

Now  you  will  understand  me  when  I  tell  you,  that 
God  'prohibited  Adam  and  Eve  from  eating  the  fruit 
of  one  tree  in  the  middle  of  the  garden  in  which 
they  lived. 

It  was  a  prohibition  that  they  could  very  easily 
understand.  There  s$o£d  the  tree  in  plain  sight. 
God  pointed  it  out  to  them,  so  that  they  could  not  be 
in  any  mistake  with  Regard  to  it. 

It  was  a  prohibition  which  they  could  easily  re- 
member. Every  time  that  they  passed  by  the  tree, 
they  could  not  even  look  at  it  without  thinking  that 
it  was  the  only  tree  in  the  whole  garden,  of  the  fruit 
of  which  they  were  forbidden  to  eat. 

It  was  a  prohibition  which  they  knew  God  had  a 
perfect  right  to  make.  The  garden  and  all  that  grew 
in  it  was  his.  He  made  the  trees  and  the  deli- 
cious fruit  which  was  on  them.  He  caused  the  sun 
to  shine  and  the  gentle  showers  to  fall  upon  them 


THE     PROHIBITION.  23 

aud  make  them  grow.  He  could  do  as  he  chose  with 
his  own. 

It  was  a  prohibition  of  which  Adam  and  Eve  ought 
not  in  the  least  to  complain.  They  had  enough  with- 
out using  the  fruit  of  that  one  tree.  God  had  kindly 
given  them  a  great  abundance  of  the  sweetest  and 
best  fruit  with  which  the  other  trees  were  loaded. 
He  had  shown  how  much  he  loved  them,  by  creating 
them, — by  giving  them  such  curious  and  useful  bo- 
dies, and  souls  that  would  live  for  ever  and  increase 
in  goodness  and  in  happiness,  if  they  continued  to 
love  and  obey  him.  He  had  placed  them  in  a  most 
delightful  home,  and  was  taking  care  of  them  like  a 
tender  and  kind  father. 

It  was  a  prohibition  for  which  they  must  have 
known  there  was  a  good  reason.  God  might  wish  in 
this  way  to  let  them  show  how  willing  and  ready 
they  were  to  obey  his  commands, — how  cheerfully 
they  could  keep  from  what  he  prohibited  and  not 
even  touch  it.  If  he  had  given  them  no  such  prohi- 
bition, how  could  they  have  so  well  shown  their  obe- 
dience f 


24  THE   prohibition; 

Is  it  not  one  of  the  best  ways  for  you  ta  show  that 
you  love  your  father,  to  keep  from  doing  something 
which  he  has  forbidden  ? 

God  might  have  wished,  too,  to  see  whether  they 
were  indeed  his  obedient  children, — to  try  them,  and 
let  the  angels  and  other  beings  see  what  Adam  and 
Eve  would  do  when  thus  tried. 

That  so  good  and  kind  a  being  as  God  had  some 
good  reason  for  giving  them  the  prohibition,  they 
could  have  no  doubt.  It  was  a  prohibition  which  it 
was  not  difficult  for  them  to  obey.  It  was  not  a  hard 
thing  to  be  done.  It  was  just  something  not  to  be  done, 
not  to  take  the  fruit  from  one  tree. 

How  do  you  suppose  you  would  have  felt  if  you 
had  been  in  that  beautiful  garden,  and,  like  Adam 
and  Eve,  been  forbidden  to  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the 
tree  in  the  midst  of  the  garden  ? 

You  think,  perhaps,  that  you  would  not  have  com- 
plained at  all  of  the  prohibition,  but  have  been  per- 
fectly contented,  and  thankful  to  God  for  all  his 
goodness. 

But  have  you  never  felt  uneasy  and  discontented 


THE    PROHIBITION.  25 

when  your  parents  or  teachers  have  forbidden  you  to 
do,  or  to  take  something  ? — Have  you  never  thought 
their  prohibition  too  hard,  and  wished  that  you  could 
be  free  from  it  ? — Think  a  little,  and  you  may  find 
reason  to  believe,  that  if  you  had  been  under  the 
same  prohibition  as  Adam  and  Eve  were,  you  would 
have  thought  it  too  strict,  and  wished  that  God  had 
not  made  it. 

We  shall  see,  in  a  few  stories  more,  how  they  felt 
and  acted.  And  let  us  try  to  see,  too,  whether  you 
feel  and  act  any  better  than  they  did. 


STORY   III 


THE    PENALTY. 


A  father  who  had  a  library  in  which  there  was  a 
large  and  costly  book  of  beautiful  pictures,  told  his 
son  that  he  must  not  take  it  down  from  its  place.  He 
said  that  he  would  show  it  to  his  son  whenever  it 
was  best  for  him  to  see  it,  but  that  he  must  never 
take  it  down,  and  that  if  he  did,  he  should  shut  him 
up  in  a  room,  and  keep  him  there  six  hours. 

The  being  shut  up  in  the  room  six  hours,  was  the 
penalty  which  the  boy  would  have  to  suffer  if  he  dis- 
obeyed his  father. 

If  a  man  steals,  the  law  says  he  must  be  put  into 
prison.     Imprisonment  is  the  penalty  for  stealing. 

If  a  man  kills  another  in  anger,  intending  to  do  it, 
it  is  murder,  and  the  lav/  says  he  must  be  hung.  To 
be  hung  is  the  penalty  for  murder. 

Have  you  ever  suffered   any  penalty  for  having 


30  THE    PENALTY. 

broken  the  commands,  or  rules,  of  your  parents  or 
teachers  f 

When  God  forbade  Adam  and  Eve  to  eat  the  fruit 
of  the  tree  which  was  in  the  middle  of  the  garden, 
he  told  them  that  if  they  disobeyed  him,  they  should 
surely  die. — To  die  was  the  penalty  which  they  would 
have  to  suffer,  if  they  should  eat  any  of  the  fruit  of 
that  tree. 

This  meant  a  great  deal  more  than  that  their 
bodies  only  should  die.  What  more  did  it  mean  ? 
Let  me  see  if  I  can  explain  it  to  you  ? 

When  the  body  dies,  it  moves  and  acts  no  more. 
The  eye  cannot  see  any  pleasant  sights,  nor  the  ear 
hear  any  pleasant  sounds,  nor  the  tongue  taste  any 
pleasant  food.  Death  puts  an  end  to  all  the  plea- 
sures of  the  body.     It  destroys  them  entirely. 

Now  there  is  another  kind  of  death  spoken  of  in 
the  Bible,  which  puts  an  end  to,  and  destroys  all  the 
happiness  of  the  soul. 

When  God  told  Adam  and  Eve  that,  if  they  dis- 
obeyed him,  they  should  surely  die,  he  meant  that 
they  should  not  only  suffer  the  death  of  the  body,  but 


THE    PENALTY.  31 

also  the  loss  of  his  friendship  and  love,  and  of  the 
happiness  which  they  were  enjoying  in  Eden.  He 
meant  that  they  should  meet  with  a  great  deal  of 
suffering  in  this  world  on  account  of  their  sin,  and  be 
exposed  to  endless  suffering  in  the  world  to  come,  af- 
ter their  bodies  should  die. 

This  would  be  death  indeed, — the  death,  or  de- 
struction of  all  their  pure  and  holy  pleasures,  which 
made  them  so  happy  while  they  continued  to  love  and 
obey  God  ;  the  bringing  upon  them  trouble  and  sor- 
row ;  the  pains,  sickness,  and  death  of  the  body  ;  and 
what  was  worse  than  all,  the  misery  of  being  sent 
away  from  God  and  all  good  beings,  to  dwell  for  ever 
in  a  horrible  place  of  punishment,  with  other  sinful 
and  unhappy  beings  like  themselves. 

Thus  you  see  how  the  soul  may  be  said  to  die  as 
well  as  the  body,  by  having  all  its  happiness  de- 
stroyed, and  by  dying  and  dying,  as  it  were,  for  ever, 
in  the  endless  sufferings  that  sin  will  bring  upon  it. 

We  should  think  that  the  penalty  must  have  alarm- 
ed Adam  and  Eve  very  much,  even  if  they  did  not 
fully  understand  the  whole  of  it.    They  knew  enough 


32  THE    PENALTY. 

to  make  them  fear  greatly  to  disobey  God.  They 
knew  that  if  they  disobeyed  him  they  would  lose  all 
the  happiness  which  they  were  enjoying.  They 
would  no  longer  have  God  as  their  friend.  He 
would  both  in  this  and  the  future  world  punish  them 
severely.  And  they  could  see  no  way  of  escaping 
from  this  punishment.  We  should  think  that  all 
this  would  have  made  them  very  careful,  indeed,  not 
to  touch  the  forbidden  tree,  and  not  even  to  wish  to 
touch  it. 

Do  you  not  think  it  would  have  made  you  very 
much  afraid  to  do  so,  if  you  had  been  in  Eden,  and 
if  God  had  given  you  the  same  command  which  he 
gave  Adam  and  Eve  ? 

Why  then  are  you  not  afraid  now  to  sin  against 
God  ?  Do  you  know  the  awful  penalty  which  he  has 
threatened  against  sinners  who  do  not  feel  truly 
sorry  for  their  sins,  and  trust  in  Jesus  Christ,  and 
look  to  God  for  his  Holy  Spirit  to  help  them  to  love 
and  obey  him?  It  is  to  be  a  miserable  sinner  for 
ever  ;  to  have  the  soul  be  dying  for  ever;  no  life  in  it ; 
no  right  and  good  feelings,  but  all  wicked  and  hate- 


THE    PENALTY.  33 

ful  ones  ;  no  kindness  to  others  ;  no  peace,  no  com- 
fort, no  happiness.  It  is  to  have  the  soul  dying  for 
ever  in  that  miserable  place  where  the  wicked  angels 
are,  and  where  wicked  men  and  women,  and  boys  and 
girls,  will  go  who  do  not  repent  of  their  sins  and 
trust  in  the  Savior.  It  is  to  have  the  soul  dying  for 
ever,  having  lost  the  friendship  and  favor  of  God,  and 
cast  out  from  heaven,  with  no  ho^je  of  ever  being 
permitted  to  go  there. 

My  dear  child,  will  you  not  fear  this  awful  penal- 
ty ? — Will  you  not  go  to  God,  and  tell  him  how  sorry 
you  are  that  you  have  sinned  against  him  ?  Will 
you  not  pray  to  him  to  give  you  his  Holy  Spirit  to 
help  you  truly  to  repent  of  all  your  sins,  to  trust  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  love  and  obey  God,  and  to 
do  all  the  good  you  can  to  others. — Go,  go  in  this 
way,  to  your  kind  heavenly  Father,  and  to  the  com 
passionate  Savior,  who  are  waiting  to  receive  you, 
and,  though  your  body  must  die,  your  soul  shall 
never  die. 


' 


S3?®nir  sir. 

THE    TEMPTER. 

William  one  day  was  standing  at  his  father's  door, 
who  told  him  not  to  go  away,  as  he  wished  him  soon 
to  go  on  an  errand.  A  boy  who  used  sometimes  to 
play  with  William,  was  passing  by  with  a  kite  in  his 
hand.  "Come,  William,"  said  he,  "come  go  with 
me,  and  help  me  fly  my  kite.  There  is  a  fine  wind 
this  morning,  and  I  have  got  twine  enough  to  let  her 
go  almost  out  of  sight." 

"I  can't  go,"  said  William;  "my  father  told  me 
to  stay  here  tiii  he  came  back,  when  I  am  going  on 
an  errand  for  him." 

"  How  soon  will  he  be  here  ?"  said  the  boy. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  William,  "he  may  be  gone 
half  an  hour. 

"O!  we  shall  have  time  enough  then  to  go  and 
tly  the  kite,  and  come  back  again." 


38  THE    TEMPTER. 

"  But  I  must  not  disobey  my  father ;  the  Bible 
tells  me  that  I  should  obey  my  parents  in  all  things." 

"  If  your  father  were  here,  I  am  sure  he  would  let 
you  go.  Besides,  you  will  be  back  before  he  comes, 
and  he  will  not  know  any  thing  about  it." 

"  But  God  will  know  all  about  it,"  said  William  ; 
"  he  sees  us  at  all  times  ;  he  sees  us  now,  and  I  dare 
not  displease  him  by  disobeying  my  father.  I  shall 
not  go  with  you." 

William  did  right.  How  much  happier  all  little 
boys  and  girls  would  be,  if  they  would  do  so  too, 
whenever  any  one  tempts  them  to  do  wrong,  as  the 
boy  who  had  the  kite  tempted  William  to  disobey  his 
father. 

When  any  one  tries  to  lead  you  to  do  wrong,  by 
telling  you  how  happy  you  will  be  in  doing  it,  or  that 
you  will  get  some  good  by  doing  it,  that  person  who 
thus  tempts  you  is  called  a  tempter*  I  dare  say  you 
have  been  tempted  in  this  way.  Think  if  you  have 
not,  and  whether  you  have  done  as  William  did,  or 
not.  He  was  a  good  boy,  and  would  not  yield  to  the 
tempter  who  tried  to  lead  him  to  do  wrong. 


THE    TEMPTER. 


There  was  a  very  wicked  being  who  tempted  Eve 
to  do  wrong  in  Eden.  It  was  Satan,  or  the  devil. 
He  had  once  been  a  good  angel,  happy  in  Heaven 
in  loving  and  serving  God.  But  he  began  to  have 
wicked  thoughts  and  feelings  about  God.  He  loved 
God  no  longer.  He  would  not  submit  to  God's  go- 
vernment. There  were  other  angels  who  felt  and 
did  as  Satan  did. 

God  could  not  let  them  remain  in  Heaven.  Hea- 
ven, you  know,  is  a  holy  and  happy  place.  It  would 
destroy  the  happiness  of  all  the  good  beings  who  are 
there  to  have  wicked  ones  among  them.  Besides, 
God  means  to  have  all  the  beings  whom  he  has  made, 
know  that  he  has  a  right  to  govern  them, — that  it  is 
best  that  he  should  govern  them  ; — and  that  he  will 
govern  them.  If  they  will  not  yield  to  his  govern- 
ment, he  must   punish  them  for  their  disobedience. 

How  unhappy  two  or  three  disobedient  and  wicked 
children  in  a  family,  or  even  one  such  child,  will  make 
the  whole  family.  The  parents  must  govern  and  be 
obeyed,  or  all  will  be  confusion  and  wretchedness. 

God  cast  Satan  and  the  wicked  angels  out  of  Hea- 


40  THE    TEMPTER. 

ven.  He  cast  them  down  into  hell,  and  there  the 
Bible  tells  us  they  are  kept  "  in  everlasting  chains, 
under  darkness,  unto  the  judgment  of  the  great  day." 

Satan  found  his  way  to  Eden  out  of  his  dark  and 
horrible  prison.  How  he  got  out,  or  how  he  went  to 
Eden,  we  do  not  know.  We  cannot  even  think  how 
he  did  it.  But  we  are  sure  of  one  thing,  that  God 
permitted  him  to  do  it,  or  else  he  never  could  have 
escaped  from  his  prison.  We  are  sure,  too,  that  God 
had  wise  and  good  reasons  for  permitting  Satan  to 
do  so ;  for  God  never  does  any  thing  without  a  rea- 
son, and  all  that  he  does  is,  like  himself,  holy,  just 
and  good. 

Satan  arrived  in  Eden.  He  had  come  to  see  if  he 
could  not  tempt  Adam  and  Eve  to  be  wicked  like 
himself,  and  disobey  God.  How  much  he  must  have 
hated  God  to  wish  to  do  this  !  How  full  of  envy  and 
of  every  bad  feeling  his  heart  must  have  been  to  wish 
to  make  Adam  and  Eve  sinful  and  wretched  like 
himself, — to  have  them  cast  out  from  the  beautiful 
and  pleasant  garden  in  which  they  lived,  and  to  lose 
the  friendship  of  God  f 


THE    TEMPTER.  41 

Satan  was  a  tempter.  He  was  the  first  tempter  of 
whom  we  have  any  account.  What  do  you  think  of 
him  ?  Do  you  wish  to  be  like  him  ? — "  No,  no,"  you 
say,  "  I  hope  I  shall  never  be  such  a  wicked  and 
hateful  being  as  he  is." 

Take  care,  then,  lest  you  follow  his  example.  Do 
you  never  have  any  wrong  thoughts  or  feelings  to- 
wards your  parents  or  teachers  ?  Do  you  never  feel 
unwilling  to  submit  to  their  government  ?  If  you 
think  and  feel  so,  you  are  disobeying  God ;  for  he 
commands  you  to  obey  your  parents  and  teachers. 
You  are  fighting  against  his  government  as  Satan  did. 

Do  you  never  tempt  any  body  to  do  wrong, — to 
do  what  you  know,  at  the  time,  they  ought  not  to 
do  ? — Think  a  little  before  you  answer  the  question. 

If  you  do,  then  you  are  a  tempter,  such  as  Satan 
was.  Fear,  fear,  lest  you  may  become  more  like  him. 
Pray  to  God  earnestly  that  he  would  keep  you  from 
following  so  dreadful  an  example. 


■■> 


STOE¥    V- 

THE    TEMPTATION. 

Satan  did  not  think  it  best  to  appear  to  Adam  and 
Eve  as  he  realiy  was,  a  wicked  and  horrible  being, — 
an  angel  of  darkness  just  come  from  his  dreadful 
prison-house.  He  became  like  a  serpent,  such  as 
Adam  and  Eve  had  often  seen,  and  of  which  they 
had  no  fear. 

He  found  Eve  alone,  and  near  the  forbidden  tree. 
Adam  was  at  a  distance  in  some  other  part  of  the 
garden,  taking  care,  perhaps,  of  the  trees  and  plants, 
or  gathering  some  fruit  for  food. 

The  serpent,  or  rather  Satan  in  the  form  of  the 
serpent,  spoke  to  Eve.  He  asked  her,  if  God  had  in- 
deed said  that  they  should  not  eat  of  every  tree  of 
the  garden. 

Oh  !  yes,  said  she,  "  we  may  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the 
trees  of  the  garden.  But  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree 
which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  garden,  God  hath  said, 


46  THE    TEMPTATION. 

ye  shall  not  eat  of  it,  neither  shall  ye  touch  it,  lest 
ye  die." 

Eve  remembered  very  well  what  God  had  told 
her ;  and  she  ought  immediately  to  have  fled,  as  fast 
as  she  could,  from  one  who  she  must  have  seen  was 
trying  to  lead  her  to  think  that  God's  command  was 
too  strict.  The  very  way  in  which  Satan  spoke 
to  her,  shows  that  this  was  what  he  wished  to  do. 

And  this  is  the  way,  my  dear  child,  in  which  you 
may  be  tempted  to  do  evil.  Either  your  own  wicked 
heart,  or  some  wicked  person,  will  lead  you  to  think, 
at  first,  that  the  command  of  your  parent,  or  teacher, 
or  of  God  himself,  is  too  strict.  When  you  find  your- 
self beginning  to  think  so, — stop.  Stop  at  once.  Look 
up  to  God.  Pray  to  him  in  your  mind,  to  help  you  to 
get  rid  of  such  thoughts,  and  to  flee  away  from  such 
a  wicked  person. 

That  is  the  only  way  in  which  you  can  be  safe, 
and  escape  from  the  temptation.  If  Eve  had  done 
so,  she  would  have  been  safe.  But  she  stood  there, 
to  listen  to  what  the  tempter  might  still  have  to  say 
to  her. 


THE    TEMPTATION.  47 

What  do  you  think  he  did  next  ?  Just  what  a 
wicked  person  is  always  ready  to  do  when  he  is  tempt- 
ing another  to  sin.  He  told  a  downright  lie.  He  dared 
to  contradict  what  God  had  said,  and  to  charge  God 
himself  with  having  uttered  a  falsehood. 

"  Ye  shall  not  surely  die,"  said  Satan,  "  For  God 
doth  know  that  in  the  day  ye  eat  thereof,  then  your 
eyes  shall  be  opened,  and  ye  shall  be  as  gods,  know- 
ing good  and  evil."  He  wished  to  make  Eve  believe 
that  there  was  not  the  least  danger  in  eating  the  for- 
bidden fruit,  and  that  besides  this,  both  she  and 
Adam  would  gain  a  great  good  by  eating  it.  In  some 
way  or  other,  it  would  enable  them  to  know  many 
new  and  curious  things,  just  as  a  person  who  has 
been  blind  and  has  his  sight  restored,  will  open  his 
eyes,  and  soon  be  able  to  see  ten  thousand  beautiful 
and  wonderful  objects.  He  told  her  that  they  would 
know  so  much  about  both  good  and  evil  things,  that 
they  would  be  like  God  himself  in  knowledge. 

In  this  way  Satan  tried  to  make  Eve  feel  that 
God  was  too  strict  in  his  command,  and  that  he 
ought  to  have  permitted  Adam  and  her  to  eat  of  all 


48  THE    TEMPTATION. 

the  fruit  in  the  garden,  without  any  exception.  He 
tried  to  make  her  feel  uneasy  and  discontented,  and 
to  think  that  by  eating  the  forbidden  fruit  she  would 
be  a  great  deal  more  happy  and  wise  than  she  then 
was. 

This  is  just  the  way  with  all  temptations  to  sin. 
How  have  you  thought  and  felt,  when  you  have  been 
tempted  ?  You  have  not  been  contented  with  what 
you  had.  It  has  seemed  to  you,  either  from  what 
you  have  thought  yourself,  or  from  what  some  wicked 
person  has  told  you,  that  there  was  something  which 
if  you  could  get,  or  do,  you  would  be  a  great  deal 
happier.  But  then  your  parent,  or  teacher,  or  God 
himself  in  the  Bible,  has  forbidden  you  to  get,  or  to 
do,  that  very  thing.  You  begin  to  feel  uneasy  at  this 
prohibition.  You  think  it  is  too  strict.  You  doubt 
whether  it  is  exactly  right.  You  think  of  the  punish- 
ment which  is  threatened  against  you,  if  you  diso- 
bey. You  hope  that  in  some  way  or  other  you  will 
escape  this  punishment,  or  that  there  is  some  mis- 
take about  it,  and  that  you  are  in  no  danger  of  suf 
fering  it  at  all.    Your  own  wicked   heart,  or  some 


THE    TEMPTATION.  49 

wicked  companion,  tells  you  so,  and  the  temptation 
begins  to  lead  you  to  disobedience. 

Now  when  you  think  and  feel  so  again,  remember 
Eve.  Remember  how  Satan  tempted  her ;  how  he 
lied  and  tried  to  deceive  her.  And  will  you  let  a  lie 
deceive  you,  and  lead  you  to  disobey  God,  and  have 
him  displeased  with  you  ? 

Every  temptation  to  sin,  whether  it  comes  from 
your  own  wicked  heart,  or  from  a  wicked  companion, 
is  a  lie.  It  is  just  such  a  lie  as  Satan  told  Eve.  If 
you  believe  it ;  if  you  yield  to  it ;  if  you  do  the  wicked 
thing ;  it  is  like  saying,  as  Satan  did,  that  God  is  a 
liar.  It  is  saying  that  you  do  not  believe  that  what 
God  says  is  true.  He  says  that  he  will  certainly  pu- 
nish sinners  with  a  most  awful  punishment.  When 
you  yield  to  temptation  and  sin  against  him,  do  you 
not  say,  by  your  conduct,  that  you  do  not  think  that 
you  shall  really  suffer  such  a  punishment. 

Dare  you  thus,  as  Satan  did,  charge  the  great 
God  with  falsehood  ?  Dare  you  say  or  think  that  you 
can  sin  against  him,  and  escape  from  the  punishment 
which  he  has  threatened  against  the  wicked  ? — What. 


50  THE    TEMPTATION. 

he  threatens  he  will  do.  "  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  living  God."  "  Fear  him  who 
after  he  hath  killed,  hath  power  to  cast  into  hell  : 
yea,  I  say  unto  you,  fear  him." 

Fear  to  sin  against  him.  Fear  the  beginning  of 
wicked  thoughts  and  feelings.  Pray  earnestly  to  God 
for  his  Holy  Spirit  that  you  may  be  immediately  de- 
livered from  them. 


STOXL1T   VI. 

THE    FALL. 

Once  when  Jesus  Christ  was  teaching  the  people, 
he  wished  to  make  them  think  how  foolish  it  would 
be  for  a  person  to  listen  to  the  good  things  which  he 
was  teaching,  and  then  go  away  and  act  directly 
contrary  to  them.  He  said  it  would  be  as  foolish  as 
for  a  man  to  build  his  house  upon  the  sand,  without 
putting  any  stones  under  it  for  a  foundation  for  it 
to  stand  upon.  In  a  great  storm  of  wind  and  rain, 
and  with  the  waters  of  a  raging  stream  dashing 
against  the  house,  it  would  fall,  and  the  fall  of  it 
would  be  great. 

So  we  say,  if  a  boy  or  girl,  a  man  or  woman,  has 
for  some  time  conducted  well,  and  all  at  once  yields 
to  temptation,  and  commits  a  great  sin,  that  he  or 
she  has  fallen.  And  in  this  story,  I  shall  tell  you  of 
the  fall  of  Adam  and  Eve.  Eve,  however,  fell  first, 
as  we  shall  see. 


54  THE    FALL, 

After  hearing  what  Satan  had  to  say,  Eve  did  not 
reprove  him  for  saying  it,  which  shows  that  she  was 
doing  wrong  in  thus  listening  to  so  wicked  a  tempter. 
She  began  soon  to  look  more  attentively  at  the  for 
bidden  fruit.  Its  appearance  led  her  to  suppose  that, 
like  the  other  fruit  in  the  garden,  it  would  be  "  good 
for  food."  Then  it  looked  fair  and  ripe,  and  with 
its  beautiful  color  was  "  pleasant  to  the  eyes."  She 
thought,  too,  of  what  Satan  had  just  told  her,  and 
felt  that  the  fruit  was  "to  be  desired  to  make  one 
wise." 

Poor,  foolish,  sinful  Eve !  How  could  she  thus 
dare  to  believe  what  Satan  told  her,  and  doubt  the 
truth  of  God's  threatening  ! 

She  drew  near  the  tree,  and  stretched  out  her 
hand,  and  took  of  the  fruit  and  ate  it.  And  having 
sinned  herself,  just  as  all  other  wicked  persons  do, 
she  soon  tempted  Adam  to  sin  likewise. 

It  was  not  long  before  he  came  that  way  and  saw 
what  Eve  had  done.  The  Bible  does  not  tell  us  how 
he  felt  or  what  he  said  ;  neither  does  it  tell  us  what 
Eve  said  to  him. 


THE    FALL.  55 

As  Satan,  however,  tempted  her,  so  she  tempted 
Adam.  She  gave  him  some  of  the  fruit,  and  he  also 
ate  of  it. 

They  fell.  They  fell  from  the  state  in  which  they 
had  been, — from  being  good  and  happy, — from  be- 
ing obedient  to  God  and  enjoying  his  friendship  and 
love, — into  sin  ; — into  disobedience  to  God  and  the 
beginning  to  suffer  that  punishment  which  he  had 
threatened,  if  they  should  break  his  command. 
,  This  was  the  fall,  and  it  brought,  sickness,  and 
pain,  and  sorrow,  and  death  into  the  world.  It 
brought  sin,  too,  the  worst  of  all  evils.  Adam  and 
Eve's  children  were  sinners.  And  their  children 
were  sinners, — -and  so  on  down  till  this  time.  All, 
all  have  sinned, — you  and  I,  and  every  body.  We 
have  sinned  as  Adam  and  Eve  did.  For  do  you  not 
remember,  my  dear  child,  how  often  you  have  had 
thoughts  and  feelings,  and  said  and  done  things, 
which  you  knew,  at  the  time,  to  be  wicked, — just  as 
Eve  knew  it  was  wicked  for  her  to  wish  to  eat  the 
forbidden  fruit,  and  to  take  some  from  the  tree  and 
eat  it. 


56  THE    FALL. 

You  wonder,  perhaps,  when  you  read  the  story 
about  them,  that  they  could  not  be  contented  with  all 
that  delicious  fruit  with  which  the  trees  were  loaded, 
but  must  listen  to  what  a  wicked  and  deceitful  tempter 
said,  and  for  the  sake  of  eating  of  the  fruit  of  one 
raore  tree,  expose  themselves  to  the  terrible  displea- 
sure of  God. 

You  wonder  that,  while  God  had  done  so  much  to 
make  them  good  and  happy,  they  could  forget  it  all, 
and  disbelieve  what  he  said,  and  disobey  one  who 
had  been  so  full  of  kindness  to  them. 

Ah  !  my  child,  all  sin  is  just  the  same  kind  of  folly, 
and  unbelief,  and  unthankfulness. 

Has  not  God  been  very  kind  to  you1? — Has  he  not 
done  a  great  deal  to  make  you  good  and  happy  ? 
Has  he  not  given  you  all  that  you  need,  and  all  that 
is  best  for  you  ?  If  you  love  and  obey  him,  and  those 
whom  he  has  placed  over  you  to  take  care  of  you, 
will  you  not  have  the  highest  kind  of  happiness  which 
you  can  have  in  this  world  ? 

Why  do  you  so  often  wish  to  reach  after  and  get 
some  forbidden  fruit ;  something   which    you   know 


THE    FALL.  57 

your  parents  or  teachers  have  prohibited,  or  which 
God  himself  has  prohibited  you  from  having  or 
doing  ? 

Ah  !  while  you  wonder  at  poor,  sinful  Adam  and 
Eve,  wonder  at  your  own  folly  and  wickedness  !  See, 
how  exactly  you  are  like  them.  Feel  sorry  for  hav- 
ing committed  the  same  kind  of  sin  which  they  did. 
Do  not  feel  proud  and  boastful,  and  say  that  if  you 
had  been  in  Eden,  and  been  tempted  by  Satan  as 
they  were,  you  would  not  have  acted  as  they  did. 

You  have  acted  as  they  did.  You  are  guilty  as  they 
were.  You  are  exposed  to  that  awful  punishment 
with  which  God  threatened  them,  if  they  should  dis- 
obey him.  You  are  exposed  to  it,  and  must  endure 
it  all,  both  in  this  and  the  future  world,  unless  you 
go  to  God, — sorry,  humble,  broken-hearted  on  ac- 
count of  your  sins, — beseeching  him,  because  Christ 
died  for  sinners,  to  forgive  you, — trusting  in  this  Sa- 
vior,— and  praying  that  God  would  lead  you,  by  his 
Holy  Spirit,  to  be  like  Christ. 

You  have  been  like  Adam  ;  will  you  not  wish,  and 
strive,  and  pray  to  be  like  Christ  ? 


THE    REMORSE. 

Suppose  a  boy  were  alone  in  a  room  in  the  house 
in  which  he  lived,  and  knew  that  in  a  trunk  near  the 
window  there  was  some  money  belonging  to  his  fa- 
ther. The  wicked  thought  comes  into  his  mind,  that 
a  key  which  he  has  in  his  pocket  will  unlock  the 
trunk,  and  that  he  can  take  a  dollar  from  it,  without 
any  one's  knowing  it.  He  thinks  of  all  the  pretty 
things  that  he  can  buy  for  a  dollar,  and  how  happy 
they  will  make  him.  He  yields  to  the  temptation. 
He  takes  the,  dollar,  locks  up  the  trunk,  and  goes 
down  stairs  and  tries  to  look  as  if  nothing  had  hap- 
pened. / 

He  is  kept  at  home  all  the  day  and  cannot  spend 
the  dollar.  When  evening  comes  he  goes  to  bed,  as 
usual,  in  good  season,  and  lest  some  one  should  find 
the  dollar  in  his  pocket,  he  hides  it  in  a  closet,  where 
he  thinks  it  will  be  safe  till  the  morning. 


62  THE    REMORSE. 

Do  you  think  he  would  pray  to  God  that  evening", 
before  lying  down  to  sleep  ? — No,  he  would  not  pray, 
so  long  as  he  meant  to  keep  the  dollar.  But  he 
would  feel  unhappy,  and  very  unhappy  indeed  if  it 
was  the  first  time  that  he  had  stolen  any  thing. 

There  would  be  several  things  to  make  him  feel 
unhappy.  He  would  feel  ashamed  of  himself )  to  think 
that  he  could  be  a  thief,  and  steal  money  too  from 
his  own  father,  who  had  been  so  kind  to  him. 

He  would  have  pretty  strong  fears  lest  he  should 
be  found  out,  and  have  to  suffer  disgrace  and  punish- 
ment. 

He  would  feel  too  that  what  he  had  done  was 
ivrong — that  he  had  been  guilty  of  great  wicked- 
ness,— that  God  knew  it,  and  that  he  could  not  es- 
cape the  displeasure  of  God.  He  would  feel  that  he 
deserved  this  displeasure,  and  that  sooner  or  later  it 
might  reach  him. 

These  thoughts  and  feelings,  as  he  lay  his  head 
down  on  his  pillow,  would  trouble  him  so  as  to  keep 
him  awake,  and  make  him  very  wretched  indeed. 

Such  thoughts  and  feelings,  after  a  person  has 


THE    REMORSE.  63 

done  some  wicked  thing,  and  is  thinking  about  it, — 
is  called  remorse. — I  dare  say  you  know  what  it  is. 
For  although  you  may  never  have  stolen  any  thing, 
yet  you  have  done  things  which  at  the  time  you  knew 
to  be  wrong,  and  have  been  very  unhappy  afterwards 
while  thinking  about  your  conduct. 

Sometimes  this  remorse  has  been  so  great  in  per- 
sons who  have  stolen,  or  even  in  those  who  have 
murdered  some  one,  that  they  have  confessed  their 
guilt,  when  nobody  suspected  them,  and  have  given 
themselves  up  to  punishment. 

Nothing  can  cause  as  great  suffering  in  this  world 
as  remorse  ;  and  it  will  be  one  of  the  principal  causes 
of  the  sufferings  of  the  wicked  in  the  future  world. 

Adam  and  Eve  felt  this  remorse  most  deeply  after 
they  had  eaten  the  forbidden  fruit.  They  felt  their 
shame  and  guilt.  They  felt  how  ungrateful  and  dis- 
obedient they  had  been  to  their  kind,  Heavenly  Fa- 
ther. They  felt  afraid  to  meet  him.  They  dreaded 
his  displeasure.  They  trembled  at  the  thought  of 
the  punishment  which  he  had  threatened,  and  which 
they  knew  they  deserved. — They  lamented  their  fol- 


64  THE    REMORSE. 

ly  in  believing  what  Satan  had  told  them.  They 
found  that  they  did  indeed  know  both  good  and  evil, 
but  in  a  way  far  different  from  that  which  he  had 
promised,  and  which  they  had  expected. 

Wretched  in  looking  back  upon  what  they  had 
done,  and  in  looking  forward  to  what  they  must  suf- 
fer,— they  had  nothing  to  make  them  happy  ;  nothing 
in  themselves ;  in  the  delightful  garden  that  was 
around  them  ;  or  in  God,  should  he  again  come  to 
meet  them  as  he  had  done  before. 

He  did  come  to  meet  them.  It  was  in  the  cool  of 
the  day,  and  they  heard  his  voice  in  the  garden. 

How  glad  they  would  have  been  to  hear  that  voice 
if  they  had  not  sinned,— if  the  fruit  on  the  forbidden 
tree  had  remained  untouched.  But  they  were  alarm- 
ed by  the  voice.  They  dreaded  to  meet  the  great 
and  glorious  being  from  whom  it  came.  Trembling 
and  fleeing  from  it  "  they  hid  themselves  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord  God  amongst  the  trees  of  the 
garden." 

Have  you  not  felt  just  so  when  you  have  done 
wrong,  and  were  afraid  of  being  found  out.    Some- 


THE     REMORSE. 


65 


times  you  may  have  run  away  and  hid  yourself  as 
Adam  and  Eve  did ;  and  at  other  times,  you  have 
wished  to  avoid  the  eye  of  some  one, — of  your  pa- 
rent or  teaeher,  and  would  have  hid  yourself  from 
their  look  if  you  could  have  done  it. 

How  unpleasant  such  feelings  are  !  But  how  hap- 
py a  person  feels  when  he  can  look  every  body  full 
in  the  face, — fearing  no  eye  that  shall  examine  him, 
and  no  tongue  that  shall  ask  him  a  question. 

How  happy  you  have  felt  when  you  could  run  and 
meet  your  father,  or  mother,  or  teacher,  and  hear 
their  voice,  and  catch  their  kind  look,  and  let  them 
see  that  you  look  as  an  obedient  and  happy  child  al- 
ways does. 

Be  obedient  to  them.  Be  obedient  to  God,  if  you 
wish  to  enjoy  this  happiness.  Remember  how  Adam 
and  Eve  hid  themselves  in  the  garden,  and  pray  to 
God  that  he  would  keep  you  from  sinning,  that  so 
you  may  be  kept  from  shame  and  fear. 


STORY"    VIII 

THE    EXCUSES. 

How  very  hard  it  is  when  a  person  has  clone 
wrong,  to  feel  sorry  for  it,  and  to  confess  it,  and  ask 
to  be  forgiven. 

How  often  when  you  have  done  wrong,  have  you 
tried,  on  being  told  of  it,  to  make  some  excuse  for  it. 
You  forgot,  you  said,  all  about  what  your  parent  or 
teacher  had  commanded.  You  did  not  suppose  that 
they  meant  exactly  so.  You  did  not  intend  to  do  just 
as  you  did.  It  was  much  worse  than  you  thought  it 
would  be.  You  were  mistaken  about  it.  A  compa- 
nion told  you  there  could  be  no  harm  in  doing  it. 
He  led  you  on  to  do  it.  He  did  it  more  than  half 
himself.  You  never  would  have  thought  of  doing  it, 
if  he  had  not  tempted  you. 

Just  so  Adam  and  Eve  began  to  make  excuses, 
when  God  called  them  out  from  their  hiding  place 
and  they  came  and  stood  trembling  before  him. 


70  THE    EXCUSES. 

"  Hast  thou  eaten,"  said  he  to  Adam,  '  of  the 
tree,  whereof  I  commanded  thee  that  thou  shouldest 
not  eat  ?" 

"  The  woman  whom  thou  gavest  to  be  with  me, 
she  gave  me  of  the  tree,  and  I  did  eat." — This  was 
Adam's  reply.  How  unwilling  he  was,  frankly  and 
humbly  to  confess  his  guilt.  How  ready  he  was,  if 
possible,  to  make  some  excuse  for  it.  How  he  tried 
to  throw  the  blame  on  Eve,  as  if  he  could  not  avoid 
doing  as  she  urged  him  to  do,  and  could  not  refuse 
to  accept  the  forbidden  fruit  from  her  hand. 

God  then  inquired  of  Eve  ;  "  what  is  this  that  thou 
has  done?" — She  too  was  ready  with  an  excuse. 
Her  reply  was ;  "  the  serpent  beguiled  me,"  or  told 
me  pleasant  and  deceitful  things  about  the  fruit, 
which  led  me  without  hardly  thinking  of  what  I  did 
to  pluck  it, — "  and  I  did  eat." 

Oh  !  how  much  better  it  would  have  been  for  both 
Adam  and  Eve  to  have  cast  themselves  at  the  feet  of 
their  Heavenly  Father,  and  with  a  heart-felt  sor- 
row for  their  sin  to  have  confessed  it,  and  besought 
him  to  forgive  them ! 


THE    EXCUSES.  7] 

Do  you  not  think,  also,  that  it  would  always  have 
been  better  for  you  to  have  done  the  same,  when  you 
have  done  wrong  ?  Think  of  this.  Look  back  and 
see  how  you  felt  when  you  tried  to  make  excuses  for 
what  ys'a  Knew  to  be  wicked,  and  deserving  of  blame, 
or  of  punishment.  And  then  think  how  you  felt  when, 
at  any  time,  you  confessed  your  guilt,  and  was  sorry 
for  it,  and  asked  forgiveness. 

Which  way  of  acting  do  you  now  think  was  the 
best  ? 

When  you  made  excuses,  your  guilt  seemed  to  be 
increasing ;  or  at  any  rate  your  wrong  and  disobe- 
dient feelings  grew  worse.  You  felt,  all  the  while, 
a  still  stronger  unwillingness  than  ever,  to  yield  to 
the  authority  of  your  parent  or  teacher.  Your  ex- 
cuses, too,  were  so  much  like  telling  a  falsehood,  that 
you  felt  a  good  deal  of  the  shame  and  self-reproach 
that  a  liar  does.  You  usually  have  found  that  your 
excuses  were  not  taken,  and  that  it  turned  out  worse 
for  you  in  the  end  than  if  you  had  told  the  exact 
truth  and  confessed  your  guilt.  You  have  found, 
too,  that  after  making  such  excuses,  you  were  the 


72  THE     EXCUSES. 

more  likely  to  do  similar  things  again,  and  thus  get 
into  new  troubles. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  you  have  honestly  con- 
fessed your  fault,  and  felt  sorry,  and  asked  forgive- 
ness,— how  relieved  and  happy  you  have  been  if  this 
forgiveness  was  granted.  And  even  if  you  have  had 
to  suffer  punishment,  how  much  lighter  it  has  seemed, 
and  how  differently  your  parent  or  teacher  has  re- 
garded you,  while  you  have  been  suffering  it.  And 
when  it  has  all  been  over,  and  you  have  seen  that 
your  word  could  be  believed,  and  that  your  parent 
or  teacher  loved  you  again,  and  wished  to  encourage 
and  help  you  to  conduct  well,  how  delightful  this  was 
to  you,  and  how  you  hoped  that  in  future  you  would 
be  enabled  to  avoid  the  fault  that  you  had  committed. 

Remember,  too,  that  all  this  is  equally  true  with 
regard  to  God. 

If  you  try,  as  Adam  and  Eve  did,  to  find  out  ex- 
cuses for  the  sins  which  you  have  committed  against 
God,  your  heart  will  grow  harder  in  sin.  You  will 
begin  to  think  less  of  the  evil  of  sin.  You  will  think 
less  and  less  of  the  danger  and  guilt  of  sinning  against 


THE     EXCUSES.  73 

God.  You  will  keep  on  sinning, — wandering  farther 
and  farther  from  God, — and  making  the  punishment 
for  your  sins  greater  and  greater. 

But  if  you  confess  your  sins  to  God,  and  feel  truly 
sorry  for  them,  and  trust  in  Jesus  Christ,  God  has 
promised  to  forgive  your  sins.  He  has  told  us  so  in 
the  Bible  in  these  words  which  he  directed  the  apos- 
tle John  to  write  ;  "  If  we  confess  our  sins,  he  is 
faithful  and  just,  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to 
cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness."  We  also  read 
in  Proverbs  ;  "  He  that  covereth  his  sins  shall  not 
prosper,  but  whoso  confesseth  and  forsaketh  them 
shall  have  mercy." 

Think  what  a  blessing  it  is  to  have  all  your  sins 
forgiven,  and  to  be  led  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  avoid 
sinning  in  future, — to  have  God  for  your  friend,  and 
to  become  prepared  when  you  die,  to  go  and  be  with 
him  and  with  Jesus  Christ  for  ever. 


STORY    IX. 


THE    CURSE. 


Sometimes  wicked  men  are  angry  at  others,  and 
say  that  they  wish  that  God  would  send  them  to  hell. 
This  is  called  cursing.  I  have  heard  boys  curse  and 
swear.  It  is  sad  to  hear  them,  and  to  think  what 
wicked  hearts  they  must  have,  thus  to  take  the  name 
of  God  in  vain,  and  break  one  of  his  commands, 
and  be  exposed  to  his  dreadful  displeasure.  Can  it 
be  that  the  little  boy  or  girl  who  is  reading  this  book, 
ever  uses  bad  words,  or  takes  the  name  of  God  in 
vain  ?  I  hope  not.  If  you  ever  have  done  so,  think, 
think  what  a  wicked  thing  it  is. 

But  there  is  another  kind  of  cursing.  It  is  when 
God  says  that  some  great  evil  must  come  upon  some 
person,  or  place,  or  thing.  Then  it  surely  will  come , 
for  God  is  almighty,  and  can  do  whatever  he  pleases. 
What  he  says,  is  true,  and  will  always  come  to  pass.— 


78  THE    CURSE. 

Such  a  curse  is  dreadful  indeed.  You  remember  that 
Jesus  Christ  said,  that  when  he  comes  to  judge  all 
mankind,  he  will  say  unto  the  wicked,  on  his  left 
hand;  "depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting 
fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels." 

The  first  curse  which  we  read  of  in  the  Bible  is 
that  which  God  uttered  against  the  serpent,  or  Satan, 
who  tempted  Eve.  You  can  read  it  in  the  third 
chapter  of  Genesis. 

There  is  one  part  of  this  curse  to  which  T  wish 
you  particularly  to  attend, — for  it  is  accompanied 
with  a  great  blessing  to  you  and  to  me,  and  to  all 
mankind. 

God  said  that  the  seed  of  the  woman  should  bruise 
the  head  of  the  serpent. 

By  the  seed  of  the  woman  is  meant  some  one  of  the 
descendants  of  Eve.  She  was  to  have  children,  and 
these  again  would  have  children,  and  these  again 
would  have  children,  and  so  on.  All  these  would  be 
the  descendants  of  Eve,  or  her  seed.  Now  God  de- 
clared that  one  of  these  descen  lants  should  bruise 
the  head  of  the  serpent. 


THE    CURSE.  79 

Poisonous  snakes  you  know,  are  sometimes  found 
in  the  fields  and  roads,  and  the  men  or Jboys  who  see 
them,  often  take  a  large  stick  or  stone  and  beat  them 
on  the  head  till  they  are  killed. 

Now  as  Satan  had  taken  the  form  of  a  serpent 
when  he  tempted  Eve, — to  bruise  the  head  of  that 
serpent  would  mean,  to  bruise  the  head  of  Satan,  that 
is,  to  weaken  and  destroy  him,  so  that  he  could  do  no 
more  harm.  For  you  know  Satan  has  done,  and  is 
still  doing,  a  great  deal  of  evil  in  the  world.  In  some 
way  which  we  cannot  understand  God  has  permitted 
him  to  tempt  many  persons  to  sin,  as  he  did  Eve. 
You  must  remember,  however,  that  this  is  no  more 
an  excuse  for  their  sinning  than  it  was  for  hers,  God 
will  give  all  who  look  to  him  for  it  in  sincere  prayer, 
and  trusting  in  Christ, — strength  to  resist  Satan  and 
to  overcome  all  his  temptations. 

From  among  the  descendants  of  Eve  a  person 
would  arise  who  should  weaken,  and  finally  destroy,  the 
power  of  Satan, 

And  that  person  has  come.  It  is  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,    As  a  man,  he  is  one  of  the 


80  THE    CURSE. 

descendants  of  Eve.  Mary,  you  know,  was  his  mo- 
ther. And  if  you  go  back  to  her  father  and  mother, 
and  to  their  father  and  mother,  and  so  on,  you  will 
at  last  get  back  to  Eve, — the  mother,  as  she  is  called, 
of  them  all  and  of  all  mankind. 

It  was  four  thousand  years  before  Christ  was  born 
when  God  pronounced  the  curse  upon  Satan  in  Eden, 
and  declared  that  the  seed  of  the  woman  should 
bruise  his  head.  You  see  how  wonderfully  this  has 
come  to  pass. 

Satan  has  been  trying,  ever  since  he  tempted  Eve, 
to  lead  men  to  become  the  enemies  of  God  ;  and 
those  who  listen  to  his  temptations,  and  are  wicked, 
like  him,  the  Bible  calls  his  children. 

Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  lead  men  to 
love  God,  and  to  become  his  friends  and  the  friends 
of  each  other.  Satan,  therefore,  hates  and  opposes 
Christ.  But  Christ" is  almighty.  He  has  already 
bruised  the  serpent's  head. 

While  on  earth,  you  remember  how  he  overcame 
the  temptations  of  Satan,  and  how  he  cast  out  de- 
vils, and  gave  his  disciples  power  to  cast  them  out. 


THE    CURSE.  81 

He  once  said  that  he  saw  "  Satan  as  lightning 
fall  from  heaven  ;"  probably  meaning  by  this  that 
the  time  had  come  for  the  great  downfall  of  Satan's 
power  to  do  evil. 

The  Bible  tells  us  that  it  was  thus  to  destroy  the 
power  of  Satan  that  Christ  came  into  the  world  ; 
"For  this  purpose  the  Son  of  God  was  manifest- 
ed, that  he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil." 
And  when  he  died  on  the  cross,  then  it  was  that 
Satan  and  all  the  wicked  angels  felt  that  they  were 
indeed  overcome.  Then  Christ  was  a  complete  con- 
queror over  them.  He  may  permit  them,  for  wise 
reasons,  to  do  some  more  evil  in  the  world.  But 
they  can  do  nothing  without  his  permission,  and  at 
last  they  will  be  shut  up  forever  in  their  dismal  prison- 
house,  never  again  to  leave  it,  or  disturb  the  peace 
of  God's  government  over  his  obedient  creatures. 

I  have  said  thus  much  about  Satan,  my  dear  child, 
because  he  may  tempt  you.  He  may  lead  you  to 
have  wicked  thoughts  and  desires  ;  and  I  wish  you  to 
know  where  you  must  look  for  strength  to  overcome 
them.    Look  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  seed  of  the  ivoman, 

6 


32  THE    CURSE. 

who  was  to  bruise  the  serpent's  head.  If  you  look  to 
hirn  for  this  strength,  and  trust  in  him, — he  will  give 
it  to  you,  and  "  the  God  of  peace  shall  bruise  Satan 
under  your  feet."  Remember  that  Christ  has  com- 
pletely conquered  this  great  enemy  of  all  good,  and 
that  he  can  enable  you  to  conquer  him  also.  In  the 
strength  of  Jesus  Christ,  "  Resist  the  devil,  and  he 
will  flee  frqm  you." 


SEORY   X, 
THE    SENTENCE. 

If  a  school-master  should  find  out  that  one  of  the 
boys  had  been  very  angry  with  another,  and  struck 
him  so  hard  as  to  hurt  his  eye  badly,  he  would  do 
right  to  call  the  two  boys  before  him,  in  the  presence 
of  the  whole  school,  and  inquire  into  the  matter. 

After  inquiring,  he  feels  that  it  is  his  duty  to  pun- 
ish the  boy  who  struck  the  other.  He  makes  him 
stand  on  a  stool  so  that  all  the  scholars  can  see  him. 
He  says  to  him;  "  for  your  very  bad  conduct  in  get- 
ting angry  and  striking  your  school-fellow,  you  must 
bring  your  dinner  to  school  for  three  days,  and  stay 
here  locked  up  from  twelve  to  two  o'clock,  and  your 
dinner  must  be  nothing  but  bread  and  water." 

This  telling  the  boy  what  his  punishment  would 
be,  was  the  sentence  which  the  master  passed  upon 
him 

A  judge  sentences  a  man  who  is  found  guilty  of 


86  THE    SENTENCE. 

stealing,  to  imprisonment ;  and  a  man  who  is  found 
guilty  of  murder,  to  death. 

There  was  a  sentence  which  God  passed  upon  Adam 
and  Eve,  after  he  had  pronounced  the  curse  upon 
Satan.  How  sad  and  guilty  they  must  have  felt 
while  receiying  it  I 

He  told  Eve  that  she  should  have  much  pain  and 
sorrow,  and  Adam  that  he  should  suffer  greatly  also. 
On  account  of  his  sin,  the  whole  earth  would  be 
cursed.  It  would  begin  to  bring  forth  thorns  and 
thistles.  A  great  change  would  take  place.  Things 
would  look  very  different  from  what  they  had  done 
in  Eden.  Adam  and  Eve  would  no  longer  eat  the 
delicious  fruit  with  which  that  garden  abounded. 
They  were  soon  to  leave  it,  never  to  return.  Adam 
must  labor  and  toil  hard  to  raise  his  food  from  the 
ground  by  digging  and  cultivating  it.  And,  at  last, 
they  must  both  die,  and  their  bodies  be  mingled  with 
the  dust. 

Sin  was  the  cause  of  these  evils  to  Adam  and  Eve ; 
and  look  round,  and  see  how  much  pain,  and  sorrow* 
and  trouble  sin  still  causes. 


THE    SENTENCE.  87 

The  sentence  of  death  has  passed  upon  all  men, 
for  that  all  have  sinned.  You  suffer  because  you  are 
a  sinner.  If  you  live,  you  will  have,  like  Adam  and 
Eve,  to  meet  with  pain,  and  sorrow  and  trouble. 
And,  at  last,  you  will  die.  God  says  to  you,  as  he 
did  to  Adam ;  "  dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt 
thou  return." 

Think  of  the  evil  of  sin.  It  is  a  great  evil  because 
it  is  committed  against  God.  Whenever  you  have 
sinned,  you  have  made  this  evil  greater.  Ought  you 
not  to  repent, — will  you  not  repent  of  all  your  sins, 
and  go  to  Christ,  and  love  him,  and  obey  his  com- 
mands ? 

We  are  told  that,  after  passing  sentence  upon 
Adam  and  Eve,  God  drove  them  out  of  Eden.  This 
was  a  part  of  their  punishment,  and  they  must  have 
felt  it  very  severely.  They  knew  that  they  never 
would  be  permitted  to  return,  and  enjoy  again  its 
pleasant  walks  and  shades,  and  breathe  its  pure  and 
fragrant  air,  and  eat  its  delicious  fruits.  Here  they 
had  felt  safe  under  the  protection  of  their  Almighty 
friend.    He  had  visited  them  and  conversed  with 


88 


THE    SENTENCE. 


them  ;  (at  least,  we  have  reason  to  think  so.)  They 
had  been  happy  in  loving  and  obeying  him,  and  in 
loving  and  doing  good  to  each  other.  All  their  wants 
had  been  satisfied,  and  if  they  had  only  been  con- 
tented and  obedient,  this  delightful  garden,  with  all 
its  pure  and  holy  pleasures,  would  still  have  been 
their  home.  What  a  painful  thought  to  think  that 
they  were  now  to  lose  this  home,  and  to  go  forth  to 
endure  pain,  and  toil,  and  sorrow,  and  death,  in  a 
world  cursed  and  changed  on  account  of  their  sin! 

Unhappy  Adam  and  Eve  !  Think  how  they  must 
have  felt  as  they  took  their  last  look  of  Eden  ! 

But  there  is  a  brighter  and  more  beautiful,  a 
happier  and  lovelier  place  than  Eden  was.  It  is 
Heaven,  the  Paradise  of  God.  There  is  no  sin  there, 
and  no  temptation  to  sin  ; — no  pain,  or  sickness ; — 
no  trouble  or  sorrow.  All  is  holiness  and  peace.  All 
is  perfect  happiness.  There  is  no  fear  of  a  change. 
The  joys  of  Heaven  will  be  eternal. 

Its  inhabitants  will  be  improving  constantly  in 
knowledge,  in  goodness,  and  in  happiness.  Their 
delight  will  consist  in  learning  more  of  God  and  of 


THE    SENTENCE. 


89 


Jesus  Christ  ;  in  loving  and  serving  them ;  and  in 
rejoicing  to  do  good  to  all  around  them. 

What  were  the  delicious  fruits,  the  fragrant  air, 
and  all  the  pleasures  of  the  garden  in  which  Adam 
and  Eve  lived,  to  the  joys  of  the  Heavenly  Paradise  ! 

How  wretched  were  Adam  and  Eve  in  being  cast 
out  from  Eden  !  How  will  you  feel,  my  dear  child, 
should  you  be  so  unhappy  as  to  be  shut  out  forever 
from  the  Eden  above  ! 

You  need  not  be.  There  is  a  sure  ivay,  in  which 
you  can  gain  admittance  there,  never  to  be  cast  out. 
Jesus  Christ  is  that  way.  He  died  on  the  cross  that 
the  way  to  Heaven  might  be  opened  for  you.  He  is 
ready  and  waiting  to  take  you  by  the  hand,  and  lead 
you  into  this  way.  Will  you  go  to  him  ?  You  know, 
while  on  earth,  he  said,  "  Suffer  little  children  to 
come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not." 

Will  you  go  to  this  kind  and  compassionate  Sa- 
viour f  He  loved  you  so  much, — yes,  you  who  are 
reading  this  book,  that  he  came  down  from  Heaven 
and  died  on  the  cross,  on  purpose  to  save  you  ?  Will 
you  any  longer  delay  to  go  to  him  ? 


90 


THE    SENTENCE. 


Go  to  Christ  as  a  poor,  sick,  and  almost  dying 
man  looks  to  the  physician  who  comes  to  see  him, 
and  feels  that  his  only  hope  of  life  is  in  what  this 
kind  and  skillful  physician  will  do  for  him. 

Go  to  Christ,  feeling  as  Peter  did  when  he  was 
sinking  in  the  waters,  and  was  near  drowning,  and 
felt  that  he  had  no  strength  in  himself,  and  cried 
out  "Lord  save  me,  or  I  perish." 

Go  to  Christ,  feeling  as  the  repenting  publican  did 
when  he  "  smote  upon  his  breast,  saying,  God  be 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner." 

Go  to  Christ,  feeling  that  you  are  indeed  a  sinner, 
and  that  the  law  of  God  justly  sentences  you  to 
punishment,  as  it  did  Adam  and  Eve. 

Go  to  Christ,  feeling  that  lost  in  yourself,  without 
any  goodness  and  without  any  strength  of  your  own, 
you  come  to  be  saved  by  him,  and  to  receive  this 
salvation  as  a  free  gift  which  you  do  not  at  all  de- 
serve. 

Will  you  do  this  ?  Will  vou  now  go  alone  and  try 
to  do  it  ?  Will  you  pray  to  God  for  his  Holy  Spirit 
to  aid  you  in  doing  it.    He  has  said,  "  Ask,  and  ye 


THE    SENTENCE.  91 

shall  receive ;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find ;  knock  and  it 
shall  be  opened  unto  you." — "  Him  that  cometh  to 
me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out." 


THE    END. 


A 


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